Must push book and get that Caribbean holiday, sorry, shoes for the kids.

Not sure what I'm going to do now, because Strong! completes my series on all four British beer styles: Porter, Mild, Bitter and now Strong Ales. Bit vague the last one, I know. Blame British brewers of the past, because they were a bit vague about naming their stronger beers.

The book. You probably want to hear about that. It's dirt cheap and over 350 pages of my usual bollocks - tables, numbers, ciphers, statistics and calculations, plus lots of long quotes from books and newspapers. Anything, really, to stop me having to write big chunks of prose.

Which is why it's so odd that I wrote between 10 and 15 thousand totally new words expecially for the book. Ones that have never appeared anywhere before. Including an overview of the types of strong beer brewed in Britain over the last 300 years.

Been wondering what to buy the beer geek in your life for Krimble? Look no further. Buy Strong! now!

The wort was brought
to the boil as quickly as possible to destroy any remaining diastase which
would cause the creation of more maltose if left unchecked. The boil was vigorous
and varied in length between one hour and more than two. Around 2 hours was
commonest. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter
J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 524.)

Whitbread boiled their
strong worts for 80 to 105 minutes and their weak worts for 2 hours. Fullers
boiled their worts for between 80 and 120 minutes.

Dome coppers had the
advantages of aerating the wort and preventing it from boiling over. The
disadvantage was that the hops could disintegrate to such an extent that they
no longer operated as a filter for the wort. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
524.)

There were many
different opinions about the best time to add hops to the wort. Some brewers
added them as soon as the wort was put into the copper. Others waited until the
wort had begun to boil. Sykes & Ling reckoned that it was best to wait
until 15 to to 20 minutes into the boil before adding any hops. Their reasoning
was that, some proteins already having been precipitated, this helped the
precipitative action of tannins in the hops. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
522.)

They were also
proponents of two hop additions: one 15 or 20 minutes after the start, the
second 20 to 30 minutes before the end. In this way not all of the volatile
oils would be boiled off. The coarser hops were added first and the finer hops,
whose flavour would be better preserved, last. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
522.) A system of three hop additions was also practised, again with the
best-flavoured hops added last.(Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 523.)

The brewing logs,
unfortunately, only give details about the total length of the boil and do not
specify when hop additions took place. Based on what appears in brewing
manuals, it's probably safe to assume that two additions were commonplace. When
hops of different ages were being used, which was usually the case, it would
make sense to have used the freshest hops last, as these would contain the
greatest quantity of volatile oils. The older hops would have been used as a
source of hop resins and tannins, which would not have been lost to such a
great extent as the volatile oils during storage.

Though long boiling
also extracted some of the less desirable elements of the hops, it was
necessary to dissolve hop resins, which acted as a preservative. "The
preservative power of hops is dependent on the soft resins they contain, and
these, on excessive boiling, undergo a chemical change and are converted into
bodies of a less soluble nature; hence hops should never be boiled a second
time. It is highly probable that the long periods which hops are often boiled
at the present time might be shortened with advantage." (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 523.)

When worts were boiled
separately, each was hopped in proportion to its volume and gravity. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 523.) Let's take as an example a brew of 100 barrels
of beer, with a gravity of 21 pounds per barrel (1058º) and 250 pounds of were
to be used in the whole batch. The total extract would be 100 * 21, or 2100. A
first wort of 67 barrels at 24 pounds per barrel, would have an extract of 67 *
24, or 1608. So the amount of hops to be boiled in it would be 250 (total hops)
* 1608/2100, or 191.4. The second wort would have the remainder of the hops:
58.6 pounds. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 525.)

A patented device
called a "hop separator", divided hops into leaves, stalks and
lupulin. The leaves were added at the start of the boil, the stalks 15 minutes
before the end and the lupulin 10 minutes before the end. The inventor claimed
between 10 and 25% fewer hops were needed when using this method. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, pages 523-524.)

At the end of the
boil, the wort was "turned out", that is run into the hop back. The
hops settled onto the false bottom and formed a natural filter so that the wort
was drawn off perfectly clear. The spent hops were sparged to release any wort
retained in them. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 527.)

London Porter brewers
had been famous for their long boils. Most had given up the practice by this
time, but Truman were still boiling their worts for at least 2 hours and
sometimes for as long as four hours. For their weaker beers, 2.5 hours for the
first wort and 3 for the second was typical. When brewing stronger beers, where
the wort needed to be concentrated, the first wort had 2.5 hours and the second
wort 4 hours in the copper. In contrast, Whitbread boiled the first wort for
1.5 hours and the second for 2 to 2.5 hours. After WW I the boil times dropped
even more as, since they were brewing weaker beers, there was seldom need to
concentrate the wort much.

Form the hop back, the
wort moved on to the coolers. Whilst spread thinly in the shallow coolers, the
wort not only rapidly lost heat, but also absorbed oxygen. This oxygen combined
chemically with some of the contents of the wort. This aeration was vital for
the later clarity of the beer. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 527.)

Whilst in the cooler,
the wort deposited a sediment known as "cooler sludge", which was not
allowed to get into the fermenting tun. The wort was not allowed to drop below
140º F in the coolers as this would damage the finished beer and make it less
stable. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J.
Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 527.)

As soon as the wort
had dropped in temperature to 140º F, it was run through the refrigerator. Here
more oxygen was absorbed, though only in solution, not chemical combination.
The wort was cooled to the required pitching temperature, usually 58 to 60º F.
(Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes
& Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 528.)

The amount of yeast
for pitching was calculated based on the volume of wort to be fermented and its
gravity, stronger beers requiring more. For a wort with a gravity of 1050 -
1055º, 1.5 - 2 lbs per barrel of yeast was needed; for a wort of 1066º, 2.5 to
3.5 lbs; and for worts over 1066º 3 to 4 lbs. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
532.)

In 1910, according to
their brewing logs, Fullers used much smaller quantities of yeast than those
just quoted:

AK

0.65
lbs yeast per barrel

Brown
Stout

0.94

Porter

0.44

PA

0.67

X

0.74

The yeast used had
mostly been harvested from X, though in one case "Mann's Yeast" is
specified.

Yeast was either added
directly to the wort or first mixed with a quantity of wort at between 65 and
75º F to form a starter. The latter method was a better way of ensuring that a
vigorous fermentation started as quickly as possible. (Source: "Principles
& Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907,
pages 530-531.)

Weaker beers - those with
an gravity in the range 1050 to 1055º - were pitched at 58-60º F and ideally
not allowed to heat up past 66º F, 70º F ant an absolute maximum. Temperatures
any higher were too likely to lead to an infection. Strong beers were pitched a
couple of degrees cooler and, protected by their higher alcohol content, could
be allowed to ise to a maximum of 75º F. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
534.)

The Fuller's logs from
1910 confirm these pitching and fermentation temperatures. All the worts were
pitched at either 59 or 60º F and the maximum temperature reached during
fermentation between 66 and 69º F.

If a fermentation were
not vigorous enough and the yeast head discoloured, the solution was to "dress"
the wort. The old method was to mix 1 lb of wheat flour and 4 ounces of salt
per barrel into the wort and then rouse it thoroughly. When the problem was
caused by too many unfermentable carbohydrates in the wort, this
"dressing" could be effective. The diastase in the malt acted on the
carbohydrates, making them more fermentable. The new method was to use just
malt flour, without any salt. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, pages 534-535.)

The appearance of the
head when through a series phases during fermentation:

- after 2-3 hours,
bubbles of CO2 began to appear

- after 4-6 hours, a
head formed around the edges of the vessel and gradually covered the whole
surface

- as the head
thickened, it entered the "cauliflower" stage

- next was the
"rocky head" stage, when it reached a height of three or four feet

- after about 48 hours
the had began to collapse and the "yeasty head" stage began, also
known as the "skimming point" as this was when skimming bega. It was
also when yeast was harvested. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 535.)

The appearance of the
"yeasty head" was an indication that it was time to start cleansing
or skimming, if either of these systems of fermentation were being used. The
gravity had by now dropped to between a third and a half of the starting
gravity. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J.
Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 535.)

Probably having its
origins in domestic brewing, this was the oldest method of fermentation.
Originally, trade casks, that is the casks in which the beer was sent out to
customers, were used for cleansing. After about 48 hours in the fermenting tun,
the process of separating out the yeast began and the wort was transferred to
trade casks. A few breweries still used this old-fashioned method in the early
20th century. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 535.)

By the late 1800's, it
was more usual to use large casks - butts, puncheons or pontos, each holding
several barrels - for cleansing. These were known as "loose pieces"
because, unlike the more sophisticated Burton Union method of cleansing, the
barrels were not permanently fixed to a frame, but could be removed for
cleaning. Yeast was pitched at 56º to 60º F and after 36 to 40 hours, when the
temperature had risen to about 70º F and the gravity reduced by half, the wort
was transferred to the cleansing casks. Splitting the wort into smaller volumes
helped to keep down the temperature. If the temperature in the fermenting room
was 45º to 50º F, the wort in the casks could get no warmer than 70º F.
(Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes
& Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 535.)

In the summer, it was
possible that the wort could become too hot so, as a precaution, it was moved
to the cleansing casks earlier in the fermentation, when it was cooler. Burton
Unions were fitted with attemperators so this was not necessary. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 536.)

Some beer was expelled
along with the yeast and it was important to top up the cleansing casks with
clear wort. If they were not keep totally full, yeast would fall back into the
beer and defeat the object of the operation. In some arrangements, such as
Burton unions, topping up occurred automatically. In other cases, it was
performed by hand, usually at intervals of around 3 hours. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 536.)

As far as I am aware,
the unions at Marston in Burton are the only remaining example of this form of
fermentation.

This began exactly the
same as the cleansing method. When the skimming point was reached, the wort was
left in the fermenting tun but thoroughly roused. The yeast head was skimmed
off every 6 hours. Temperature was controlled by means of attemperators. These
were switched on when the temperature of the wort had reached 59º F and so
regulated as to allow the wort to rise 1º F every 6 hours. The flow of water
through the attemperators was increased when the wort hit 65º or 66º F to stop
the wort warming any more. When the fermentation was nearly finished, the water
flow in the attemperators was increased even more to cool the wort down to 60º
F. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes
& Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 536.)

Skimming stopped when
it was estimated there was just enough yeast left to throw up one more head.
This was checked by moving aside the head to look at the wort. If it was black and clear, it was ready
and no more skimming was needed. If it was brown and opaque, it still contained
too much yeast. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, pages 536-537.)

This was a variation
on the skimming system developed by William Garton. When the wort had almost
reached the skimming point, it was let down from the fermenting tun to a
shallow settling square. The process of "dropping" both aerated and
roused the wort. Much of the sediment was left behind in the fermenting tun.
(Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes
& Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 537.)

Once in the settling
square, the wort was skimmed and its temperature controlled by attemperators as
in the skimming system. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 537.)

Fullers were using the
dropping system in 1910. They usually dropped the wort after just 12 to 18
hours in the fermenting tun. This is the record of a typical fermentation:

Fuller's 1910 Porter

hours

temp.

gravity

0

60

1048.6

12

Dropped into square

30.5

64

1042.1

36.5

66

1037.7

42

66

1031.6

47

66

1026.9

50

Lowered sluices

54

66.5

1021.6

56

Collected

60.5

66

1018.6

62

Skimmed

68.5

66

1015.8

73.5

66

1014.4

77

66

1013.9

93

Liquor on

99

134

60

1011.9

Racked

Source:

Fullers brewing records

The temperatures match
pretty much exactly those given by Sykes and Ling in their description of the
skimming system.

Most London breweries
employed either the cleansing system or skimming system. I am unaware of any
brewery that still uses the cleansing system. There is at least one brewery
(Refresh for the Brakspears beers) that continues to use the dropping system.

This method, as its alternate
name "Yorkshire square" implies, was common in the north of England.
It produced beers that were full-bodied and with a high CO2 content. A special
type of slow-acting yeast, which needed a great deal of rousing, was used.
(Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes
& Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 537.)

A small amount of
yeast, just 1 to 1.5 pounds per barrel, was pitched at a temperature of 58º to
59º F. The yeast was mixed with a little wort in the upper chamber, thoroughly
roused and then let down into the main chamber through the "organ
pipe". The wort was then left undisturbed for 36 hours during which time
the temperature rose to 62º F. For the next 12 hours, the wort was roused every
two hours. Yeast rose through the central manhole and settled in the upper
chamber. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J.
Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 537.)

The next stage was
pumping. Wort was pumped into the upper chamber and mixed with the yeast that
had settled there. The valve in the organ pipe was then opened to allow the
wort and yeast mixture to run back into the main chamber. This process was
repeated every two hours, starting with 15 strokes of the pump. On each
subsequent repetition, the number of strokes was increased by 10. The wort was
kept cool by the attemperating "jacket" formed bt the double walls of
the square. Pumping ceased when the wort was within 1 or 1.5º of its finishing
gravity. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J.
Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 537.)

After pumping was
over, the yeast which rose into the upper chamber was removed any four hours.
Any beer which had risen with the yeast was let back down into the main chamber
through the "organ pipe". When all the yeast had been removed, the
temperature of the beer was gradually reduced to 60º F. The manhole was then
closed and the beer left to settle for 48 hours before being racked. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 538.)

Yorkshire squares are
the only one of the three fermentation systems still in widespread use.
Breweries using them include Sam Smith's and Tetley's.

After fermentation had
finished, the beer was left to settle for 24 hours either in the fermenting
vessel or a settling back. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 538.)

When the beer was
bright, it was racked into trade casks. A rubber pipe, fitted with a metal
nozzle was used to fill the casks. The nozzle's function was to ensure that the
tube reached almost to the bottom of the cask so the beer didn't get too
agitated and begin to froth over. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 538.)

Before being filled
with beer, a quantity of whole hops was added to the trade casks.
Standard-strength beers received between 1 and 1.5 pounds per barrel, stronger
beers more. The best quality hops were used, usually Goldings or Worcesters.
Only whole flowers, free from disease of fungus, were suitable. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 538.)

The volatile oils
present in the hops added flavour and aroma to the beer. The hops also helped
conditioning, as they contained a diastatic enzymes that broke down lower
malto-dextrins into more fermentable sugars, which would be consumed by the
yeast during secondary fermentation. By attracting suspended particles, the
hops aided clarification, too. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 539.)

When in trade or
storage casks, beer began a slow secondary fermentation. Maltodextrins were
gradually broken down and consumed through the hydrolic action of the yeast,
helped by the diastatic enzymes in the dry hops. The fermentable material
created in this way was enough to keep the beer saturated with CO2, which
helped protect it from bacterial attack. Some of the CO2 combined with water to
form carbonic acid. During long storage, esters were formed, which contributed
to the character of aged beers. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 539.)

Standard pitching
yeast, a type of Saccharomyces cervesiae, was not capable of performing this
type of secondary fermentation. Brettanomyces was the yeast responsible. This
gave beers that were matured for long periods the typical "aged
taste". Until 1904, when N. H. Clausen isolated Brettanomyces at the
Carlsberg laboratory in Copenhagen, the process had been a mystery.
Brettanomyces was either a component in a multi-strain yeast, which only really
became active during secondary fermentation, or was picked up from wooden
equipment. Its discovery explained why single-strain pitching yeasts often
struggled to successfully carry out secondary fermentation.

Aged beers were going
out of fashion and beers were rarely stored more than a few weeks before
shipping. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter
J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 539.) The age of tun rooms, filled with
Porter maturing for 12 months or more, had passed. The London breweries had
dismantled their massive vats and converted their tun rooms to other uses.

Many beers were not
left to mature in the brewery at all, but shipped immediately after racking. In
this case any secondary fermentation took place in the pub cellar. Today most
cask-conditioned beer is handled this way. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, pages
539-540.) Sykes & Ling did not think this a true secondary fermentation,
but an extension of primary fermentation, as only the easily-fermentable sugars
were being consumed. They only considered the slow fermentation of
maltodextrins over a period of many months as a true secondary fermentation.

Beers which were
shipped immediately after racking were "primed" in the cask with a
sugar solution that had a gravity of about 1150º. The primings promoted an
artificial and rapid secondary fermentation that conditioned the beer
sufficiently for sale. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 540.)

Sykes & Ling
weren't wildly enthusiastic: "Priming is exceedingly useful in many cases,
but the condition which it induces is of a far more transitory character than
that obtained by allowing a beer which has been brewed on correct lines to
mature slowly by the natural process." (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
540.)

Drinkers were used to
their beer being sparkling clear: "Owing to the taste now prevailing for
an absolutely bright article, ales which do not fulfil these conditions are
hArdly saleable." (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 542.)

well-made beer would,
if left long enough, spontaneously clear without any external help. The problem
was, with beer being sent out straight after racking, it wasn't normally given
sufficient time to clear naturally before being served. The solution was to add
finings, usually isinglass, at racking time. (Source: "Principles &
Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page
542.)

Isinglass was prepared
by dissolving it in a mixture of water and acid. The old method had been to use
sour beer as the source of acid, but, as this was likely to be infected with
bacteria, it wasn't perfect. By 1900, sour beer had been replaced by acetic,
tartaric or sulpuric acid. Acetic acid had the disadvantage of a nasty taste
and finings made with tartaric acid soon went mouldy. Hence sulphuric acid, no
matter how scary that might sound, was the most widely used. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 543.)

Finings could
successfully remove "cooler sludge", powdered glass, asbestos and
yeast, but were useless in the face of cloudiness caused by a bacterial
infection or a nitrogen haze. They also removed much of the colouring material
derived from caramel. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing"
by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 544.)

There were two methods
of fining in the cask: "fining in" and "fining out". When
"fining in", the finings were mixed with some beer and poured into
the cask through the bung-hole, the cask sealed and the rolled to distribute
the finings evenly. When "fining out" the beer finings mixture was
stirred in with a stick and the bung-hole left open. After a short time the
finings were ejected through the bung hole. Beer fined this way could clear in
just a few hours. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 544.)

Discovery of
brettanomyces and the process behind the creation of the "aged" taste
in beer.

Small amounts of beer
had been bottled for centuries. But bottling on a industrial scale only really
took off at the end of the 1800's. For the first time, beers were brewed
specifically to be bottled and without any direct draught equivalent. Brown Ale
and Luncheon Ales are good examples of new bottled-only styles.

New technology allowed
the creation of "sparkling" bottled beers without sediment. Filtered
and artificially carbonated, such beers soon began to dominate the bottled beer
market. These were mostly relatively light and weak beers which were stored for
as short a period as possible, usually just a few weeks, before and after
bottling.

Some bottled beers
were still made the old way. These were mostly strong, bitter or Pale Ales.
They were stored in casks for several months before bottling.
Bottle-conditioned, they were left to ripen for months after bottling, too.
These were rapidly going out of fashion and being replaced by the new, lighter,
carbonated varieties. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing"
by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 545.)

Not all breweries were
keen on the new type of bottled beers. When Sydney Nevile joined Whitbread just
after WW I, the directors made him promise never to carbonate their bottled
beers. Adverts of the period for Whitbread's bottled Stout proudly proclaim
"naturally matured in the bottle".

X Ale, a Mild Ale, had
replaced Porter as the most popular type of beer. It formed over 50% of output,
even of some of the large London Porter breweries like Whitbread and Truman.

Amongst the London
brewers there was a trend to brew a much reduced range of X and K Ales. XX and
XXX were dropped. Mostly just the weakest remained, X. The stronger slots were
left to Stock Ales, KK and KKK. Increasingly, the Stock Ales were referred to
as Strong Ales and X Ales as Mild Ales. This relationship would last little
changed until the 1950's.

For example, in 1881,
Whitbread brewed X, XL and XX. By 1910, only X remained. The gravity of X was
starting to move downwards, too. Whitbread's was 1061º in 1881, but was down to
1057º in 1910. Much worse was to happen after 1914, when Mild Ales bore the
brunt of gravity cuts.

X Ales had pretty
simple recipes: pale malt and sugar. Though some brewers had taken advantage of
the 1880 Free Mash Tun Act to use adjuncts like maize or rice. No modern Mild
bears much resemblance to such Ales. What differentiated them from Pale Ale
wasn't colour or gravity, but a lower hopping rate and higher FG which made
them maltier, sweeter and fuller-bodied.

X Ales were hopped at
a rate of 7 to 8 pounds per quarter in the 1880's, falling to 5 to 6 pounds per
barrel by 1910. PA and IPA were hopped at about double that rate.

Surprisingly, Bitters
like PA and IPA generally had a lower percentage of malt in the grist than X
Ales. Whitbread's X had 10% sugar in the grist, their PA and IPA 20%. This,
too, must have helped Mild Ales to taste more full-bodied than the Bitters.

Here are the details
of Whitbread's X Ales over the period 1881-1910:

Whitbread X Ales
1881-1910

1881

1891

1901

1910

X

XL

XX

X

XK

X

XK

X

OG

1061

1068.4

1078.4

1059.8

1069

1052.6

1058.7

1056.7

FG

1015.5

1019.7

1024.9

1016

1018

1011

1013

1016

ABV

6.02

6.44

7.08

5.79

6.75

5.50

6.05

5.38

Apparent attenuation

74.59%

71.20%

68.24%

73.24%

73.91%

79.09%

77.85%

71.78%

pale malt

92.91%

94.39%

83.75%

90.42%

88.99%

90.42%

90.66%

89.19%

sugar

7.09%

5.61%

16.25%

9.58%

11.01%

9.58%

9.34%

10.81%

hops lbs/barrel

2.09

2.35

5.44

2.17

2.46

1.34

1.58

1.29

hops (lbs/qtr)

7.53

7.35

14.86

8.04

8.02

5.98

6.03

5.38

barrels brewed

148,350

9,398

11,663

228,259

3,685

316,128

5,768

290,955

hl brewed

242,784

15,380

19,087

373,560

6,031

517,362

9,440

476,165

%age of total

80.08%

5.07%

6.30%

85.22%

1.38%

65.76%

1.20%

54.06%

Total barrels Ale brewed

185,242

267,850

480,763

538,220

Source:

Whitbread brewing records

Here's a more detailed
example of a late-Victorian X Ale:

July 14th 1890 Whitbread
X

pale malt

90%

sugar

10%

1889 Bavarian

25%

1889 Burley

44%

1889 American

14%

1887 American

17%

brls

water temp

mashed (mins)

stood (mins)

tap temp.

gravity

brls

mash

1140

156

30

10

143

1068

819

underlet

399

165

120

sparge

600

185

155

1032

701

2139

1520

hops (lbs/barrel)

2.17

hops (lbs/qtr)

8

boil time (hours)

1.5

2.5

gravity (OG)

1058.8

gravity (FG)

1016

ABV

5.8%

apparent attenuation

73%

Source:

Whitbread
brewing records

You'll see that most
of the hops used were foreign, some North American, some continental. The
mashing scheme is fairly typical for the period: a short mash at a relatively
cool temperature then hotter water added via the underlet to raise the
temperature of the mash. Only about a third as much water was used for sparging
(600 barrels) as for mashing (1539 barrels).

Only after 1900 did X
Ale start becoming darker. At first it was the use of crystal and amber malts.
Such beers would have been dark amber, noticeably darker than Pale Ales of the
period but not as dark as modern Dark Mild. Pales were about 28º Lovibond (on
the 1 inch scale), X Ale 42º. A modern Dark Mild would be 80-120º.

The book has a big
section on British Ales (as opposed to German Ales - you must be getting well
fed up of me banging on about this - don't worry, I'll be continuing for
several more years). I hadn't looked at it until today. On the positive site,
the author seems to quite like Mild. Pale Ale he absolutely hates and writes
it's impossible for a German to drink more than two glasses of it.

I was interested in
his description of the colour of Mild. Remember that the book was published in
1902. It's sometimes difficult to know what an author means with colour
descriptions, but "deep gold" does not mean dark in my book.

Apologies for the
translation. The sentence structure in the original is almost as bad as Marcel
Proust. Sentences that fill a whole paragraph. You can't accuse me of that.

"In the group Ales, there's another beer, which in contrast to the
heavily-hopped, light Pale Ale is characterised by a mild and very malty
flavour and a darker, deep gold to brownish-yellow colour, called Mild Ale and
forms a special type of beer, which as a result of the low degree of
attenuation, the soft, sweet taste, the low level of hopping and a colour
resembling our Lagerbier, forms an intermediary step between Pale Ales and
Stouts. It is a draught beer and is especially well brewed in London.

It doesn't keep anything like as well as Pale and Bitter Ales, since it
does not have a high degree of attenuation, nor is heavily hopped, nor
dry-hopped it doesn't have such a good protection against bacterial infection
as these, which are stored for months in unpressurised barrels without falling
prey to light bacterial sicknesses and also can be stored long, in some
circumstances months longer, in bottles, where in the beginning they also sit
for quite a long time without the protection of CO2, but are still so resistant
to bacterial infections that they can be kept for an unusually long time."

The K, presumably,
originally stood for "Keeping", that is Ale that had been matured in
vats. As long maturation went out of fashion, K Ales became just Strong Ales,
that may or may not have had a long secondary conditioning. Though, even when
not vatted, they would have spent a couple of weeks in the brewery in trade
casks before being delivered to pubs.

Whitbread K Ales
1881-1910

1881

1891

1901

1910

KK

KKK

KK

KKK

2KKK

KK

KKK

2KKK

KK

KKK

2KKK

OG

1076.2

1084.2

1075.3

1085.6

1079

1073.8

1085.2

1082.8

1071.1

1075.3

1076.6

FG

1025.5

1028

1026

1030

1026

1015

1018

1032

1027

1030

ABV

6.71

7.43

6.52

7.36

7.01

7.78

8.89

6.72

5.83

6.16

Apparent attenuation

66.54%

66.75%

65.47%

64.95%

67.09%

79.67%

78.87%

61.35%

62.03%

60.84%

pale malt

84.91%

85.03%

84.61%

83.96%

85.84%

84.61%

83.96%

85.13%

81.97%

83.96%

81.97%

brown malt

1.39%

1.24%

1.39%

1.24%

1.24%

1.41%

1.24%

1.41%

sugar

15.09%

14.97%

14.00%

14.80%

14.16%

14.00%

14.80%

13.63%

16.62%

14.80%

16.62%

hops lbs/barrel

4.36

4.97

4.88

5.76

4.92

3.99

4.61

4.55

3.75

4.61

4.04

hops (lbs/qtr)

12.43

13.13

14.27

14.16

14.07

11.98

11.98

11.98

11.97

11.98

11.97

barrels brewed

6,743

5,592

2,530

1,041

7,244

2,590

5,239

7,226

2,452

3,382

hl brewed

11,035

9,152

4,140

1,704

11,855

4,239

8,574

11,826

4,013

5,535

%age of total

3.64%

2.09%

0.94%

0.39%

1.51%

0.54%

1.09%

1.34%

0.46%

0.63%

Source:

Whitbread brewing records

They were considerably
more heavily hopped than Mild X Ales, at about 5 pounds per barrel or 12 pounds
per quarter of malt. Around 1890, a small amount of brown malt was added to the
grist, somewhere between 1 and 2%. The proportion of sugar at 15%, was between
that in Mild Ales and Pale Ales. The degree of attenuation, at around 65%, was
relatively low. High final gravities - usually over 1025º - must have left them
with a considerable amount of residual sweetness, though this may have been
concealed by the heavy hopping.

The volumes brewed
were quite modest compared to X Ale. Whitbread brewed just 20,000 to 25,000
barrels a year of KK and KKK combined, whilst churning out 200,000 to 300,000
barrels of X.

By the early 20th
century, draught KK was almost certainly being called "Burton" in London
pubs, where it was one of the strongest draught beers, along with Stout.

Pale Ale was still
very much a minority drink. Whitbread's two output of Pale Ale was, at most,
12% of its total Ale output. And the majority of that was the weaker 2PA, a
beer with a lower gravity than their standard X Mild.

Public taste was
moving towards lighter, less-alcoholic beers. One example of this trend were
Light Bitters. They were called a variety of names, but one of the most common
was AK. With gravities in the range 1047º to 1050º, they were amongst the
weakest regular beers. On some price lists, such beers have their own category
"Intermediate Ales", usually sandwiched between Mild Ales and Pale
Ales.

"People generally drink much more beer now than ever they did but
the proportion of alcohol consumed is not any greater. Statistics of all countries
show this, even in spirit drinking countries, ie that the amount of alcohol
consumed per head is a steady quantity. The beer brewed now is much lighter
than the beer of former days. Men will have beer. Coalheavers and all who want
a quantity of drink don´t care for water but on the other hand they don´t want
to get drunk. they are insisting more and more on a light beer. Brewers are now
recognizing this demand. The great bulk of beer drunk is "four ale".
Those higher in the social scale who have no extraordinary thirst to quench
prefer something heavier. They drink less in quantity but as far as alcohol is concerned
there is not much to choose between the two."

Interview with Mr Reeve, manager of Truman, Hanbury and Buxton's

Brewery, Brick Lane, 22 October [1897] (Booth B348, pp62-69)

http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b348/jpg/62.html

I had to begin with
AK. I've been dreaming of getting my hands on an AK log for so long. Just
couldn't resist it.

Let's start with the
ingredients:

malt:

75% pale malt

6% "Flaked"

19% sugar

Hops:

Darziel? 19086.67%

Oregon19076.67%

Arnold MK190943.33%

de Laune? EK190943.33%

hopping rate: 7.5
pounds per quarter, 1.43 pounds per barrel.

It was mashed at 150º
F for 60 minutes, then stood for 25 minutes. It was sparged at 168º F. The
strong wort was boiled for 105 minutes, the second wort for 2 hours.

The OG was 1045º and
it was pitched at 60º F. The fermentation took 1 week, with the temperature of
the wort reaching a maximum of 68.5º F. The wort was dropped into the settling
square after 42 hours. The FG was 1008.9º, the ABV 4.8% and apparent
attenuation 80%.

For purposes of
comparison here are some other Fuller's beers from the same year:

Beer

OG

FG

ABV

lbs hops per quarter

X Mild

1052.5º

1014.7º

5%

5.5

PA

1054º

1012º

5.60%

9.5

Porter

1049º

1011º

5.11%

7

Brown Stout

1069º

1022º

6.50%

7

Source:

Fullers brewing records

The AK was the weakest
beer I've found for that year, 1910. So what have we found out, other than that
it was pretty weak? Well it was quite highly hopped. Only the PA had a greater
hopping rate. And it was highly attenuated.

Porter was in decline.
Public taste was moving away from Porter, especially aged Porter, towards X
Ales, the precursors of modern Mild. Porter was now almost all sold Mild, or
unaged. Though care must be taken not to confuse Mild Ale and Mild Porter. They
were two totally different beers, one pale, the other dark.

A look at what was
happening at Truman, is very revealing.

Trumans Overview beer
brewed and malt used 1880 - 1881

1880

1881

barrels

%

barrels

%

% change

Runner

59,406

24.91%

56,144

23.84%

-5.49%

Keeper

3,177

1.33%

724

0.31%

-77.21%

Export Porter

139

0.06%

170

0.07%

22.30%

Running Stout

25,289

10.61%

24,834

10.55%

-1.80%

Double Export Stout

952

0.40%

522

0.22%

-45.17%

Double Stout

12,475

5.23%

12,138

5.15%

-2.70%

Imperial Stout

2,502

1.05%

2,610

1.11%

4.32%

Total Porter/Stout

103,940

43.59%

97,142

41.25%

-6.54%

A

843

0.35%

0

0.00%

-100.00%

X

126,402

53.01%

131,929

56.03%

4.37%

40/-

7,052

2.96%

6,405

2.72%

-9.17%

KXX

200

0.08%

0

0.00%

-100.00%

Total Ales

134,497

56.41%

138,334

58.75%

2.85%

Total Ale & Porter

238,437

235,476

-1.24%

qtrs

%

qtrs

%

pale malt

16,100

21.84%

16,497

22.42%

2.47%

brown malt

4,295

5.83%

3,189

4.33%

-25.75%

total pale/brown

20,395

27.67%

19,686

26.75%

-3.48%

ale malt

21,965

29.80%

25,722

34.95%

17.10%

sugar

29,130

39.52%

26,314

35.75%

-9.67%

black malt

2,217

3.01%

1,875

2.55%

-15.43%

Total

73,707

73,597

-0.15%

Source:

Trumans brewing records

Overall, the amount of
beer Trumans produced in 1881 was 1.24% less than in 1880. Seven Porters and
Stouts are listed. Less was brewed of all but two in 1881. The only ones to
show any growth, Export Porter and Imperial Stout, were both brewed in tiny
quantities. Output of all Porter and Stout fell 6.54%. Ale output, on the other
hand, rose 2.85%.

Biggest seller by
quite a long way was X Ale, 53% in 1880 and 56% in 1881. Next came Runner, or
Mild Porter as we would call it, 25% in 1880, 24% in 1881. In third place was
Running Stout, at around 10.5% in both years. These three beers accounted for
more than 90% of the Brick Lane brewery's output.

Most revealing are the
numbers of Keeper, or Porter for ageing. Output of this fell 77% between 1880
and 1881. Just 724 barrels were brewed in 1881. That's less than 0.5% of total
output. It has all the signs of a beer on its last legs. Which is what it was.
It doesn't appear in the 1890 logs.

There had already been
a fair amount of rationalisation amongst Trumans Porters. In 1850 they brewed:

Bottling Keeping

Country Runner

Double Stout

Export Keeping

Imperial Stout

M Keeping Stout

Runner

Running Stout

Stout

In 1880 it was:

Runner

Keeper

Export Porter

Running Stout

Double Export Stout

Double Stout

Imperial Stout

And in 1890:

Runner

Country Runner

Stout

Export Stout

All of the Keeping, or
aged Porters and Stouts had been discontinued by 1890. It's a good illustration
of the collapse in popularity of aged beers. Of course, having to pay beer duty
before the beer had even been fermented probably discouraged brewers from
keeping too much beer hanging around the brewery ageing as well.

The significance of
Porter was declining at Whitbread, too.

Whitbread Porter and
Stout Output Summary

P

S

Exp S

C

CS

LS

SS

SSS

Total Port

Whitbread 1881

barrels brewed

75,423

217

9,143

14,366

99,149

%age of total
Ale or Porter

76.07%

0.22%

9.22%

14.49%

Whitbread
1892

barrels brewed

94,027

29,124

17,887

15,029

156,067

%age of total
Ale or Porter

60.25%

18.66%

11.46%

9.63%

Whitbread
1902

barrels brewed

81,926

8,315

35,700

82,752

41,017

11,333

261,043

%age of total
Ale or Porter

31.38%

3.19%

13.68%

31.70%

15.71%

4.34%

Whitbread
1912

barrels brewed

111,239

1,341

219,543

43,424

11,187

386,734

%age of total
Ale or Porter

28.76%

0.35%

56.77%

11.23%

2.89%

Source:

Whitbread brewing records

In 1881, Porter was
three quarters the Porter and Stout they brewed. By 1912, it was less than 30%.
Ales were had taken over as the mainstay of the brewery. In 1881 they accounted
for two thirds of Whitbread's output. X Ale alone made up more than half the
beer they brewed. Stout was replacing Porter as the most popular black beer. In
1902 Whitbread sold more than twice as much Stout as Porter.

Which isn't to say
that Porter had been totally marginalised. Whitbread brewed more than 100,000
barrels of it in 1912, a considerable amount by anyone's standards. But it was
no longer drinkers' favourite, not even in its London heartland.

Some writers maintain
that, rather than disappearing, Porter was transformed into Dark Mild. Is this
true? Is there any evidence to support the theory?

I'll lay my cards on
the table at the start. The theory is bollocks. OK, I guess you'll need a
little more than just that simple assertion to convince you. Here goes.

What did "mild" mean?

In the 19th century
"mild" meant young or unaged. It was used in subtly different ways
and I believe this is responsible for some of the confusion over the
relationship between Mild Ale and Porter.

In 19th century texts
"mild" is used in two different senses. The first is to refer to a
specific type of beer, Mild Ale. The second is to just young beer in general.
So if you read a sentence like "Most of the new trade is for mild."
it doesn't mean specifically Mild Ale was the greater part of new trade, but
young beer. It's an important distinction.

Towards the middle of
the 19th century there was a switch in public taste away from Entire (aged
Porter) to Ale and mild. Not necessarily to Mild Ale. Increasingly, Porter was
sold mild, that is unaged. Simultaneously Ale was becoming more popular.
Specifically X-Ales. These were usually sold young as Mild Ales, though Old Ale
existed, too.

Did Porter and Mild merge?

I can say this with
certainty: not in the London brewers' logs I've looked at.

Let's look at Barclay
Perkins. For a couple of decades at the beginning of the 1800's they only
brewed Porter and Stout. No Ales of any description. Around 1850-ish they
reintroduced Ales and built a new brewhouse to produce them. The brewery was
divided into "Porter side" and "Ale side". They operated
independently of each other and had separate brewing logs. It's hard to imagine
a greater distinction than that between their Mild Ale and Porter.

For reasons I've still
not worked out, Barclay Perkin's Porter was always called TT within the
brewery. Their Mild Ales had the inspiring names of X, XX and XXX. My last
sighting of TT in their logs was in 1937, when it was a poor shadow of it's
former self with an on OG of just 1027. In that same year, they were brewing
two Mild Ales, X and XX at 1035 and 1043 respectively. I can see no merging
there.

What about the grists?
In the 19th century the Barclay Perkins Milds were 100% pale malt. Their Porter
was pale malt, brown malt and black malt. Not much similarity there. As their X
Ale grew darker it started to include amber malt, dark sugar and caramel. But
no brown malt (with the exception of during WW I), the defining element of
London Porter. These are the malts used in the late 1930's:

To conclude

Dark Mild and Porter
existed alongside each other for decades and were brewed from very different
grists. I think that torpedoes the Porter becomes Dark Mild theory and send it
to a watery grave. (Which is coincidentally what Porter had, a watery end.)

Beer, especially
Stout, was seen as a tonic. Hence the proliferation of Invalid Stouts. It was
also common for nursing mothers to drink Stout.

"Children do sip the beer they are sent to fetch; but this is not
the origin of their liking for beer. This dates back to early infancy while they
were yet in their mother´s arms. Mothers drink stout in order to increase the
supply of milk in the breast but often help the baby straight from the pintpot
from which they help themselves."

Interview with Inspector Thresher

Nov 11th.

/Interview with Inspector Thresher, retired after 26 years service in
the London police corps. of which 12 years were spent in Whitechapel. He keeps
a sweet stuff shop in the Upper Clapton Road. Address Swanley House, The Pond,
Upper Clapton Road. /(Booth B348, p189-193)

http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b348/jpg/189.html

London Stout and Irish
Stout were evolving into two different substyles. Whilst London brewers stuck
with brown malt, Guinness had gone over to a grist that was just pale, amber
and black malt.

These are the grists
of Guinness's Porter and Stouts in 1883:

Guinness grists in 1883

OG

pale malt

amber malt

roast malt

stand in minutes

lbs hops per barrel

FES

1076

85 %

10 %

5 %

70

6.2

Export

1082

85 %

10 %

5 %

70

3.6

DS Store

1076

85 %

10 %

5 %

70

4.4

DS Current

1076

85 %

10 %

5 %

70

3.8

SS

1060

86-7 %

10 %

5 %

70

2

Source:

“A bottle of
Guinness please” by David Hughes page 71

Below are the grists
for Whitbread Porter and Stout from around the same time. They are a
combination of pale, brown and black malts.

Whitbread
Porter and Stout grists in 1880

November 25th 1880 P

December 10th 1880 SS

December 10th 1880 SSS

December 8th 1880 XP S

Dere old

40%

Dereham old

39%

Dereham old

39%

Dereham SA old

51%

Norwich new

42%

Dowson new

31%

Dowson new

31%

Dereham SA new

18%

brown malt

14%

brown malt

16%

brown malt

16%

brown malt

15%

black malt

6%

black malt

4%

black malt

4%

black malt

6%

sugar

10%

sugar

10%

sugar

10%

1880 Bavarian

28%

1878 Grant

28%

1878 Grant

28%

1880 Kingsford

25%

1880 Hussey

36%

1880 Bavarian

23%

1880 Bavarian

23%

1880 Bavarian

44%

1877 American

19%

1880 Hussey

41%

1880 Hussey

41%

1879 Tomkin

31%

1878 American

16%

1877 American

8%

1877 American

8%

hops (lbs/barrel)

1.4

hops (lbs/barrel)

4.73

hops (lbs/barrel)

1.4

hops (lbs/barrel)

5.41

hops (lbs/qtr)

5.9

hops (lbs/qtr)

10.63

hops (lbs/qtr)

5.9

hops (lbs/qtr)

13.35

gravity (OG)

1055.12

gravity (OG)

1079.22

gravity (OG)

1091.41

gravity (OG)

1078.76

gravity (FG)

1009.97

gravity (FG)

1024.93

gravity (FG)

1029.92

gravity (FG)

1018.84

ABV

5.97

ABV

7.18

ABV

8.14

ABV

7.93

apparent
attenuation

81.91%

apparent
attenuation

68.53%

apparent
attenuation

67.27%

apparent
attenuation

76.08%

Source:

Whitbread
brewing records

Much later Guinness
(after WW II) replaced the roast malt with roast barley. London brewers
continued, such as Whitbread, were still using brown malt in the 1950's.

These were brewed from
the best-quality materials, sometimes all malt, but more often with 25% sugar.
Rarely was any unmalted grain included in the grist. They were heavily-hopped,
at a rate of 14 to 15 lbs per quarter of malt. They underwent a long secondary
fermentation of many months in casks. When conditioning was almost complete and
the beer had dropped bright, a porous spile was inserted to allow any excess
CO2 to escape. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, pages 545-546.)

After bottling and
corking, the bottles were laid on their sides for 12 to 24 hours to allow the
oxygen to be absorbed into the beer. Bottles were stored in a cellar at a
constant temperature of 55º F until a week or two before they were ready for
sale, when the temperature was increased to 65º F. (Source: "Principles
& Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907,
page 546.)

Such strong beers
continued to be matured for long periods and bottle-conditioned, but their
popularity was in decline.

The better-quality
versions of these beers were brewed from good materials were used for such beers,
though these included a portion of sugar and sometimes unmalted grain such as
flaked maize. The brewing water was treated with calcium sulphate to give the
finished beer a fuller body and flavour. They were hopped at a rate of 6 to 8
pounds per quarter of malt, about the same as an X Ale. They were matured in
casks for periods of between a few weeks and six months. When kept for just a
short period, the casks were frequently rolled to speed up the secondary
fermentation. They were also soft-spiled to keep the pressure inside the casks
under control. They rarely dropped bright spontaneously and needed to be fined
before bottling. (Source: "Principles & Practice of Brewing" by
Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 546.)

After bottling, they
underwent to lengthy cold-conditioning, but were immediately put into a warm
room at 65º F to bring them into condition as quickly as possible. (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 546.)

Lower-quality, light
bottled beers, intended for immediate consumption were made in a quite
different way. The ingredients did not need to be of the best quality. The
water was, however, treated with calcium sulphate, just as for the better
versions. A period of maturation in casks, between 6 and 8 weeks, was sometimes
performed, but not by any means always. The beer was fined, carbonated with CO2
and bottled. It required to period of storage or secondary conditioning and was
ready for sale immediately. (Source: "Principles & Practice of
Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 547.)

Sykes & Ling were
well aware that beer made this way was intrinsically different from
bottle-conditioned beer: "It must be remembered that the flavour due to
carbon dioxide in artificially carbonated beers is at first distinctly
different from that of those in which the gas is generated by slow fermentation
in bottle, but if such beers be kept for a time the flavour improves. In the
former case, the gas may be perhaps, to a great extent, merely in a state of
solution; whilst in the latter it may be combined with water and exist as
carbonic acid . . . . Probably, as suggested by Professor Liebrich, traces of
ethyl carbonate are formed during the secondary fermentation, and this confers
its agreeable flavour on beers of the latter class." (Source:
"Principles & Practice of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes &
Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 547.)

Filtered bottled
beers, which could be cooled without going cloudy, were first developed in the
USA. Such beers were first brought into condition, either slowly and naturally
in a cask, or quickly and artificially in a tank by adding primings or Kräusen.
When sufficiently conditioned, the beer was chilled to 26 - 38º F, filtered and
bottled. An even quicker method was to not bother conditioning the beer, just
force carbonate it before filtering. (Source: "Principles & Practice
of Brewing" by Walter J. Sykes & Arthur R. Ling, 1907, page 548.)